Trimming and grooving machine



Feb. 17, 1948.

c. w. LOWE 2,436,111 TRIMMING AND GROQVING MACHINE Filed April 30, 19453 Sheets-Sheet 1 IHIIIHHIIHIHIIHH IHHIIIIIHIHIHIIHIIHHIIIII'IIHIIIlll I3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A III C. W. LOWE TRIMMING AND GROOVING MACHINE FiledApril 30, 1945 Feb. 17, 1948.

C/areflc e Lowe INVENTOR.

Feb.

C. W. LOWE TRIMMING AND GROOVING MACHINE Filed April '30, 1945 3Sheets-Sheet 3 2? l9 i Fig. 2 x\\\\\\\\\\\ E Z4 25 v a a 4/ F/gfi. Z9

36 I F f g 58 -54 4 -.57 g 57 l 4 30 4 2 2 4 7/ Z61 C/arehc e W La wg 25S 5 25 INVENTOR Patented Feb. 17, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" 14Claims.

This invention relatesto machines for trimlining and *grooving'sheetmaterials, such :as ffiberglas and other similar materials. and has forits objects to provide anaapparatus which may be adjusted for anythickness and width of the material and any depth and position of thegrooves; which will firmly hold the material while being-thus out andgrooved; which is provided with automatic means for removing the stopout of the way of the approaching knives; and which is simple to makeand easy and effective to operate.

I attain these and-other objects by the devices, mechanisms, andarrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Fig. 1is a plan view of the machine in operation; Fig. 2 is an end elevationthereof, showing the knife carrier elevated and no material held in themachine; Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 4 is a bottom planview taken from below the machine; Fig. 5 is a transverse verticalsecti-on of one end of the knife carrier; Fig. 6 is an elevation of oneof the grooving knives; Fig. 7 is a rear elevation of the grooving knifeassembly; Fig. 8 is a longitudinal vertical section of the end of theknife carrier; Fig. 9 is an elevation of the edge trimming knifeassembly; Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the trimming knife; and Fig. 11is a section, on a reduced scale, of the'cross beam of the knifecarrier.

Similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

In many industries it is necessary to wrap structural parts, such asangle-irons, I-beams,

etc., with an insulating material, such as fiberglas, in order toprotect them, and this may 'most conveniently be accomplished by cuttingparallel V-grooves in the sheet of insulation, at

proper positions therein, said grooves extending almost completelythrough the sheet and being positioned to enable the sheet of insulatingmaterial to be bent at right-angles at each such groove to fit the pieceto be covered by such in sulation.

It is therefore necessary that the sheet be trimmed to the correct widthand that the grooves be parallel to-each other and to the trimmed edge,and that these operations be made simultaneously.

In order to accomplish this I have invented the following describedmachine. Referring to the drawings, it'will be seen that the frame of mymachine comprises a pair of. parallel angle-irons i I, adapted to belaid on a suitable table (not shown), said angle-irons ll beingconnected together by three metal cross-strips l2, welded to their undersides (Figs. 2, 4) to form a rigid frame.

Two circular rods I3 .are welded to the upper edges of the angles H(Fig. 5) and form the guide tracks for the knife carriage, hereinafterdescribed, whichinsure that the grooves cut by the machine will beparallel'to each other and to the trimmed edge.

A base table 14, composed preferably of heavy plywood, lies on top ofthe inturned legs of the angles II. "The upper surface of this table 1'is grooved with a series of rectangular grooves l5 extending from end toend of the table and adapted to permit the edge trimming knife to passentirely through the insulating material being worked on.

The carriage is composed of two semitubular sleeves I6 which are mountedon the said rods l3 and are adapted to slide thereon from end toend, oneach of which are mounted vertical carriage frames comprising the endpieces I1 and front and rearinward'extending wings l8 and the top plateI9. Each such frame is provided with a rotary supporting and adjustingscrew 21'! which isbased in a lug 2| welded to and extending inward fromthe said end piece 11, and which passes freely through the said topplate 19. The screw 20 is rotated by a suitable thumb nut'22 welded toits upper end.

The knife carrier cross beam fits between the wings I8 of the two saidcarriage frames and is vertically movable therein and comprises astructure formed of two angles-irons 23 welded on each side of the upperedge of a separating plate 2 5 (Fig. 11) to form two downwardly openchannels 25. A pair of parallel slots 25 (Fig. 1) extend centrallythrough the horizontal legs of the angles 23 from end to end. The endsof the vertical legs of the said angles 23 and also the ends of theseparating plate 24 are cut shorter than the horizontal legs, thusforming extending lugs 21. Nuts 28 are welded under the lugs 21 and areadapted 'to operatively engage the threads of the said screws 20 tosupport the knife carrier beam in vertical adjusted position.

The ends of the said carrier beam fit between the said front and rearwings ll! of the said carriage frames and are guided thereby in theirvertical movement caused by the rotation of the adjusting screws 20.

The grooving knives 29 (Fig. 6) are rectangular in form except thattheir sharpened cutting edges 30 are slightly inclined from thevertical, and

each is provided with a slot 3| extending downward from its upper edge.

The knife block 32 fits in either one or the downward facing channelsand has its ends 33 cut at 45 converging angles (Fig. 7) and the saidknives 29 are secured to the said ends 33 by means of screws 34 passingthrough said slots 3!, said knives being adjusted so that the lower endsof their cutting edges meet. The block 32 is provided with two studs 35extending, from its upper side, which are adapted to pass through one orthe other of said slots 26, and with wing nuts 36 by which the blocks 32are clamped to the beam after having been adjusted along the said slot26 to bring the knife points to the desired position to cut the V-grooveat the desired distance from the edge of the sheet A of insulatingmaterial. knives 29 fit in the said channel 25, which therefore holdsthe said knives from twisting on the screws 34. f 1

' The trimming knife 31 is similarly mounted on the knife block 38(Figs. 9, 10) except that it is held in a vertical position instead ofbeing inclined, as above, and it is adjusted to cut entirely through thematerial A, thus making the sheet of insulating material the requiredwidth. The end of the knife 31, rides in one of the slots or grooves ISin the table l4.

The sheet A or material being cut and grooved is held from sliding onthe table l4 under the strain of being cut, by a stop bar 39 whichismounted just beyond the front end of the table M in such manner as toengage the forward end of the sheet ,A. This stop bar 39 extends acrossthe end of the table and is mounted on springs 40 secured under thefront ends of the angle irons ii and extends upward to be engaged by thesheet A. V

The end pieces I! of the carriage frames each carry a side plate 4|extending downward therefrom toa point, near thelower edge of the angleirons H, and the front and rear corners of the lower edge of theseplates 4| are inclined, as at 42, and are. adapted to engage the top ofthe said stop-bar 39 to depress it, against the action of the springs40, thereby removing it from the path of the knives 32 and 31.

The top surface of this stop bar 39 may. be marked with a suitable scale43 to assist in locating the knife blocks 32 and 38 in their correctpositions in the beam channels 25.

It is evident that by the use of two channels 25, I am able to bring theV-grooves quite close together if desired.

Thus it will be seen that, the several knives having been located intheir desired positions, and the carriage placed at the rear end of itsrun on the rods l3. a sheet A of the material to be cut and grooved isplaced upon the base table M. Then the screws 20 are turned to'bring thecross beam 23 into the proper height to cut the grooves of the desireddepth. The carriage The block 32 and each" of theis then drawn forwardand all the knives cut the grooves B, in the sheet A and trim its edgeto the required width, along the line C-' in Fig. l, and as the carriagereaches its end of travel the stop bar 39 is automatically depressed topermit the said knives to finish the several cuts through the entirelength of the sheet A. It will also be observed that allthe grooves Band the trimmed edge C are parallel throughout the lengthof the sheet A.

Having described my, invention, what I claim "arid-desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

at each end by said screws, said cross beam having a downwardly openchannel on its lower side; knife blocks adjustably supported within saidchannel, the ends of said blocks being beveled; and two knives securedto the beveled ends of said blocks and adapted to cut grooves in thematerial on said table.

2. In a grooving and trimming machine, the combination of a frame havingparallel sides; guide means on each said sides; a table between saidguide means; grooves 'o'n'said' table; carriages mounted on and slidablealong said guide means; a crossbeam adjustably mounted on both saidcarriages; a knife block mountedunder said beam and adjustablethereacross; a vertical trimming knife adjustablymounted on said blockand adapted to cut through the material on said table and to ride in oneof said grooves; a second set of knife blocks mounted under said beamand adjustable thereacross, each said block having beveled ends; andpairs of grooving knives secured to the beveled ends of said blocks andadapted to cut V-grooves in the material on said table, whereby saidmaterial is trimmed and grooved in a single operation.

3. In a grooving machine, the combination of a frame, having parallelguiding means on its sides; a table between said guiding means andadapted to receive the material to be grooved; carriages mounted on andslidable along said guide means; means supported on said carriages andadapted to cut grooves in the material on said table; a spring-supportedstop bar mounted across the end of said table, and adapted to hold thematerial being grooved from motion on said table; and means on saidcarriages, adapted to 'depress said stop bar against the action of saidsprings to remove said stop bar from the path of said groove-cuttingmeans'when said means approaches the end of said material. I

4. In a machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein said stop bar extendsabove the level of the table; and wherein said depressing meanscomprises plates secured to the outer sides of said carriages, eachplate having an inclined lower surface adapted to engage the endsof saidstop bar to depress it below the level of said table and out of the wayof said groove-cutting means.

-5. In a trimming and grooving machine, the combination of a frame: atable adapted to support the material to be trimmed and grooved; meansfor holding the material from motion on said table: parallel guide meansmounted on said frame; carriages mounted on said guide means; a beamsupported by said carriages; pairs of grooving knives mounted on saidbeam and each pair adapted to out one groove in said material; and atrimming knife adjustably mounted on said beam and adapted to cutthrough said material to trim its longitudinal edge, said groovingknives and said trimming knife being adapted to simultaneously cooperateto form the finished material. I

6. In a grooving machine, the combination with a frame having parallelguide bars on its sides; a table mounted between said guide bars andadapted to receive the material to be grooved; means for holding thematerial from motion thereon; carriages mounted on said guide bars andslidable thereon; vertical rotatable supporting screws mounted on saidcarriages; a cross beam supported at each end by said screws andadjustable vertically by manipulation thereof, said cross beam having adownwardly open channel on its lower side; knife blocks supported bysaid cross beam and fitting in said channel and transversely adjustabletherein, the ends of said blocks being beveled; and two knives securedto the beveled ends of each said blocks and adapted to cooperatively cutgrooves in the material on said table.

7. In a grooving machine, the combination of .a fixed table adapted tosupport and hold the material to be grooved; parallel guiding means oneach side of said table; carriages supported by and sliding on saidguiding means; a cross beam supported by and between said carriages; aplurality of downwardly open channels in said cross beam; a plurality ofknife blocks fitting in said channels, each independently adjustabletherein from end to end of said beam and each having beveled ends; andpairs of knives secured to the beveled ends of said blocks and eachfitting across the channel in which its block is secured.

8. A device of the character described comprising a platform, parallelside rails on said platform, a cross-head slidably mounted on the rails,and one or more cutters on the cross-head provided with blades ofV-shaped cross-section, extending parallel to the rails.

9. A device of the character described comprising a platform, parallelside rails on said platform, a cross-head slidably mounted on the rails,and one or more cutters on the cross-head provided with blades ofV-shaped cross-section, extending parallel to the rails, and means toadjust the cutters lengthwise of the cross-head.

1-0. A device of the character described comprising a platform, a pairof parallel similar rails attached to the upper face of the platformadjacent the end edges thereof, a cross-head resting on said rails,means on the cross-head to slidably engage said rails, and a pair ofcutters on said cross-head adapted to cut grooves in a board placed onthe platform and between said rails, each cutter comprising a V-shapedblade extending longitudinally of the rails.

11. A device of the character described comprising a platform, a pair ofparallel similar rails attached to the upper face of the platformadjacent the end edges thereof, a cross-head resting on said rails,means on the cross-head to slidably engage the rails, and a pair ofcutters on said cross-head adapted to cut grooves in a board placed onthe platform and between said rails, each cutter comprising a platecontacting the underside of the cross-head, a blade of V- shapedcross-section extending longitudinally of the rails and fixed to theunderside of the plate, and means to attach the plate to the cross-head.

12. A device of the character described comprising a platform, a pair ofparallel similar rails attached to the upper face of the platform adja-*cent the end edges thereof, a cross-head resting on said rails, means onthe cross-head to slidably engage the rails, and a pair of cutters onsaid cross-head adapted to cut grooves in a board placed on the platformand between said rails, each cutter comprising a plate contacting theunderside of the cross-head, a blade of V-shaped cross-section extendinglongitudinally of the rails and fixed to the underside of the plate, andmeans to attach the plate to the cross-head, said crosshead being formedwith a longitudinal slot and said attaching means comprising screws oneach of said plates extending through said slot. and nuts on saidscrews, and a washer on said screws, and interposed between thecross-head and said nuts.

13. A device of the character described comprising a platform, parallelrails on said platform, a cross-head slidably mounted on said rails andspaced above the platform, and one or more cutters of V-shapedcross-section, on said crosshead, and a stop member at one end of saidplatform.

14. In combination, a platform, side rails fixed to the upper surface ofthe platform, said rails being parallel to one another, a cross-headslidably mounted on the rails, said cross-head comprising a pair ofparallel co-planar slats, guide members fixed to the ends of said slats,and slidably engaging said rails, a slot being formed between saidspaced slats, a cutter on said crosshead having a V-shaped bladedisposed parallel to said rails, and means extending through said 1sllot to adjustably fix said cutter to said crossead.

CLARENCE W. LOWE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Cook Apr. 24, 1934

